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Braves Return Rule 5 Pick Christian Cairo To Guardians

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The Braves announced that they have returned Rule 5 pick Christian Cairo to the Guardians. Atlanta’s 40-man roster count drops to 37 but Cairo does not need to take up a roster spot with Cleveland. Atlanta also officially announced that their other Rule 5 pick, Anderson Pilar, was returned to the Marlins. The Pilar news was reported earlier today.

Cairo, 24 in June, was a fourth-round pick of Cleveland’s in 2019. His profile has been fairly consistent. He’s never hit a lot of home runs but has always drawn plenty of walks. In 1,390 minor league plate appearances, he has just 15 homers but has earned free passes at a 15.6% clip. He also stole 72 bases in 89 tries while playing all four infield positions and some left field.

Perhaps Atlanta felt Cairo was ready to jump to the big leagues and serve as a utility guy, so they grabbed him in the Rule 5. Unfortunately, he didn’t do much to impress in camp, producing a tepid .179/.294/.250 batting line.

Per the parameters of the Rule 5 draft, selected players cannot be optioned to the minors. In order to keep him, Atlanta would have had to carry Cairo on the active roster. They clearly weren’t willing to do so and let him go. Rule 5 players have to be put on waivers if they are not kept. Other clubs could claim them but would be bound by the same roster rules. Now that Cairo has been returned to the Guardians, he can provide them with some non-roster depth and try to earn his way to the big leagues the traditional way.

Braves To Return Rule 5 Pick Anderson Pilar To Marlins

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The Braves are returning Rule 5 pick Anderson Pilar to the Marlins, reports Jesse Rogers of ESPN. Neither club has made an official announcement related to Pilar. Atlanta’s 40-man roster count will drop from 39 to 38. Rule 5 picks have to be put on waivers before being returned to their original club. It’s unclear if that has already taken place with Pilar. Assuming he winds up back with Miami, he won’t need to take up a 40-man spot with that organization.

Pilar, 27, has spent most of his career in the Rockies organization but signed with the Marlins prior to 2024. He then had a good year across three levels, tossing 58 innings with a 2.64 earned run average. He struck out 30.6% of batters faced while issuing walks just 5.6% of the time and getting grounders at a 46.9% clip.

That prompted Atlanta to grab him in the Rule 5, which allowed them to bring him into camp and get a close-up look at him. Unfortunately, Pilar wasn’t able to make the most of the opportunity. In six spring outings, he punched out 12 opponents but also issued six walks and ten hits, leading to nine earned runs.

Players selected in the Rule 5 draft cannot be optioned to the minor leagues. Given that spring performance, a contending club like Atlanta can’t really afford to have him figure it out in meaningful games, so they’ll let him go. As mentioned, Rule 5 players need to be put on waivers if the selecting club is relinquishing them. Any claiming club would need to operate under the same parameters, not sending Pilar to the minors. If he clears waivers, he will no longer have Rule 5 status and then he’ll be offered back to the Marlins, who can keep him as non-roster depth.

Atlanta started camp with two Rule 5 picks, the other being infielder Christian Cairo. Taken from Cleveland, Cairo is hitting .179/.294/.250 in camp, which doesn’t bode well for his chances of sticking with Atlanta.

Turning back to the Atlanta bullpen, the club has tried to bolster the group on the cheap. They have kept their payroll just south of the competitive balance tax while signing various veterans to minor league deals, including Craig Kimbrel, Héctor Neris, Enyel De Los Santos, Buck Farmer, Chasen Shreve and many more. That’s a situation that could potentially lead to some tough roster choices, but the club has seemingly been making those in recent days. They traded Angel Perdomo to the Angels recently, opening up one spot. Returning Pilar opens a second. Cairo would open a third. They also released Jake Diekman, subtracting one guy from the NRI pile.

Braves Release Jake Diekman

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The Braves have released veteran left-handed reliever Jake Diekman, per the team’s transaction log at MLB.com. He’d been in camp as a non-roster invitee this spring but was reassigned to minor league camp on Sunday. He’s the second non-roster veteran cut loose by Atlanta recently, joining catcher Curt Casali, who was released on Monday.

Diekman, 38, appeared in seven Grapefruit League games and tossed 7 1/3 innings with Atlanta. He was tagged for four runs on six hits and four walks with eight punchouts and a 45% ground-ball rate. The resulting 4.91 ERA isn’t eye-catching, but it’s a small sample and Diekman has a lengthy if inconsistent track record at the MLB level.

Diekman spent the 2024 season with the division-rival Mets, for whom he pitched 32 innings with a 5.63 ERA before being released in August. As is typical, the left-hander both missed bats and issued free passes at high levels: 27.6% strikeout rate, 16.6% walk rate.

Command — or lack thereof — has always been an issue for Diekman. He’s walked fewer than 10% of his opponents just once in 13 big league seasons, and it came way back with the 2013 Phillies. He’s walked 13.4% of his opponents in 602 1/3 career innings. However, Diekman has often been able to mitigate the damage from those walks thanks to both a hefty strikeout rate (career 28.7%) and plenty of grounders (career 46.9%), helping him induce a fair number of double plays.

As recently as 2023, Diekman notched a 3.34 ERA in 56 2/3 big league innings between the White Sox (for whom he struggled) and the Rays (with whom he thrived). His results tend to fluctuate on a year-to-year basis, but Diekman sports a 3.91 ERA in his career and a 3.94 mark over the past five big league seasons. A club seeking a veteran lefty in the ’pen could take a look at him as a low-cost option.

For the Braves, Diekman’s release and this week’s trade of Angel Perdomo likely cement that Dylan Lee and Aaron Bummer will be the only two southpaws in Brian Snitker’s bullpen. That pair will join closer Raisel Iglesias and right-handed setup man Pierce Johnson in the mix for late-inning work.

Dodgers Select Matt Sauer

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The Dodgers announced they’ve selected reliever Matt Sauer onto the big league roster before Wednesday’s matchup with the Cubs at the Tokyo Dome. They optioned left-hander Justin Wrobleski in a corresponding move. Clayton Kershaw was transferred from the 15-day to the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster.

Sauer returns to the majors after signing a minor league deal over the winter. A former second-round pick by the Yankees, he never pitched in the big leagues with New York. The Royals grabbed him in the 2023-24 Rule 5 draft. They carried him on the big league roster for the first couple months. Sauer had a tough time in his first look at major league hitters. He gave up 14 runs across 16 1/3 innings, issuing 11 walks while recording nine strikeouts.

As Kansas City cemented themselves as surprise playoff contenders, they decided they could no longer devote a bullpen spot to a developmental flier. They offered Sauer back to the Yankees in May. New York initially assigned him to Triple-A, but he was blitzed for 15 runs over just 8 1/3 innings in 10 appearances. He found his footing after being demoted to Double-A in July. Sauer closed the year with 24 frames of 2.63 ERA ball before reaching minor league free agency.

The 26-year-old righty took the ball four times this spring. He allowed seven runs over 7 2/3 innings. Sauer recorded eight strikeouts while issuing one walk in that limited sample. His stuff impressed the Dodgers enough that they brought him to Tokyo as part of their travel roster and will carry him on the MLB team for the time being.

Kershaw is rehabbing from surgery to remove a bone spur on his left big toe. He said at the beginning of camp that he would go on the 60-day IL once the Dodgers needed to create a roster spot. He’ll be out through at least the end of May.

Braves To Sign Craig Kimbrel To Minor League Deal

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The Braves and right-hander Craig Kimbrel have agreed to a minor league deal, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. The SportsMeter client will earn a $2MM salary if brought up to the big leagues, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. He’ll spend some time building up before reporting to Triple-A Gwinnett, reports Mark Bowman of MLB.com.

Kimbrel, 37 in May, has been on a rollercoaster in recent years. He had a long run as one of the most effective closers in the league, starting that tenure with Atlanta. From 2010 to 2014, he tossed 289 innings for them, allowing only 1.43 earned runs per nine. His 9.6% walk rate was a bit high but he had a massive 42.2% strikeout rate in that time. He quickly became the club’s closer and earned 185 saves in a four-year stretch from 2011 to 2014. He would continue to produce similar results for a few years, going to the Padres and Red Sox.

But as alluded to, things have been far rockier lately. A free agent after 2018, Boston gave him a $17.9MM qualifying offer. Kimbrel rejected that offer, meaning that any signing club would have to forfeit at least one draft pick. That seemed to have a significant impact on his market, as he remained unsigned until after the summer draft, which was held in June at that time. No longer tied to draft pick forfeiture, he signed a three-year, $43MM with the Cubs in early June of 2019.

Perhaps it was due to missing the first half of the season, but Kimbrel’s results were awful once he became a Cub. He eventually made 23 appearances for them that year, posting an ugly 6.53 ERA. That carried over into the shortened 2020 season, as he had a 5.28 ERA that year. Over those two seasons, he still struck out 35.2% of opponents but his 14.5% walk rate was far higher than average.

In 2021, he seemed to rebound in a big way. He made 39 appearances for the Cubs that year with a tiny 0.49 ERA. His 9.5% walk rate was still above average but a massive improvement over the previous two years. He also punched out 46.7% of batters faced. He was shipped across Chicago at that year’s deadline, with the White Sox sending Nick Madrigal and Codi Heuer to the Cubs. Unfortunately, his results immediately backed up, as he posted a 5.09 ERA over the remainder of the season.

Despite that rough finish, the Sox picked up his $16MM club option, though they traded him to the Dodgers for AJ Pollock just prior to Opening Day 2022. Heading to Los Angeles seemed to work out for a while, though he again had a rough finish. He had a 33.8% strikeout rate in the first half but punched out just 20.7% of opponents in the second half. He lost the closer’s job in September and then was left off the Dodgers’ postseason roster.

Going into 2023, the Phils gave him a one-year, $10MM deal, which led to a good bounceback season. Kimbrel posted a 3.26 ERA over 71 appearances that year, with a 33.8% strikeout rate and 10.1% walk rate. But a one-year, $13MM deal with the Orioles last year led to another downturn. He had a 5.33 ERA for Baltimore, striking out 31.5% of batters but also giving out walks 13.4% of the time. He was designated for assignment and released in September.

The overall track record is obviously impressive. Kimbrel has a career ERA of 2.59 and is fifth on the all-time saves list. He’s just seven behind Kenley Jansen, who will close for the Angels this year, and 38 away from third-place Lee Smith. But he’s been incredibly shaky in recent years, so it’s anyone’s guess what he can provide this year.

There’s little harm on a minor league deal. Atlanta can get a close-up look at him over the next few weeks and see how it goes. If he doesn’t look like he can engineer another bounceback, they can simply move on. Some veterans have guaranteed opt-outs in their minor league deals, but that wouldn’t apply to Kimbrel since he was released before the end of the 2024 season. It’s possible he negotiated some opt-outs into his deal, though no details of that nature have been reported yet.

Atlanta’s bullpen took a hit when it was reported that Joe Jiménez will likely miss the entire season due to knee surgery. They should have Raisel Iglesias, Dylan Lee, Pierce Johnson and Aaron Bummer locked into four spots. One of Ian Anderson or Grant Holmes could have a long relief role. That leaves three spots available early on. Daysbel Hernández is on the roster and could secure one.

The club also has a big collection of notable guys on minor league deals, including Héctor Neris, Enyel De Los Santos, Jake Diekman, Chasen Shreve, Buck Farmer and others. That is perhaps a reflection of the club hoping to avoid the competitive balance tax this year. Per RosterResource, they project to have a $230MM CBT number, about $11MM shy of the $241 base threshold. They have opted to sign many minor league deals and hope that a handful of them turn out to be hidden gems.

Kimbrel will jump into that cluster of non-roster veterans trying to earn major league jobs. He has the most impressive track record of anyone in that group but is a few weeks behind them and will have to overcome the memories of a poor 2024 season.

Photo courtesy of Tommy Gilligan and Kareem Elgazzar, Imagn Images.

Angels Sign Travis Blankenhorn To Minor League Deal

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The Angels have signed infielder/outfielder Travis Blankenhorn to a minor league deal, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. The log says the deal was signed on March 6 but the deal only became apparent today when he appeared on the Angels’ lineup card, as relayed by Jeff Fletcher of the Orange County Register.

Blankenhorn, 28, has an inconsistent track record. Broadly speaking, he has performed well in the minors. That has led to several brief chances in the majors, which he hasn’t been able to capitalize on. He appeared in each of the past five big league seasons, but didn’t get even 40 plate appearances in any of those. Overall, he has hit .154/.230/.264 in 100 trips to the plate, scattered across those five seasons.

But he’s had a massive tally of 3,445 minor league plate appearances. In those, he has a .256/.333/.456 batting line and 114 wRC+. That includes 1,506 trips to the plate at the Triple-A level from 2021 to 2024. In that time, Blankenhorn has 74 home runs, a 10.3% walk rate, a .254/.343/.489 batting line and 113 wRC+.

As mentioned, those strong minor league numbers have led to many call-ups. Most recently, he was with the Nats for a while in 2024 but hit .129 in 13 games. He was outrighted off the roster and elected free agency in September. Defensively, Blankenhorn is mostly an outfielder/first baseman at this stage. He has some previous experience at the other infield positions but none since 2022.

The Halos have Nolan Schanuel at first with Taylor Ward and Mike Trout projected to be in the outfield corners and Jorge Soler the regular in the designated hitter slot. They also have Ryan Noda, Niko Kavadas, Matthew Lugo and Gustavo Campero on the 40-man roster. It’s a tough path to playing time for Blankenhorn but he can at least get into some games and showcase himself, to Angels’ decision makers as well as those on other clubs.

Photo courtesy of Rafael Suanes, Imagn Images

Nationals Return Rule 5 Pick Evan Reifert To Rays

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The Nationals have returned Rule 5 Draft pick Evan Reifert to the Rays, per announcements from both clubs. Washington’s 40-man roster is now at 39 players. The right-hander is back in the Rays organization and will not count against Tampa Bay’s 40-man roster. The fact that Reifert is being returned to the Rays indicates that he first cleared waivers after being made available to the league’s other 28 teams.

The 25-year-old Reifert (26 in May) signed with the Brewers as an undrafted free agent in 2020 and was traded to the Rays a bit more than a year later in exchange for infielder Mike Brosseau. He made his way to Double-A in 2024, pitching 41 1/3 innings of 1.96 ERA ball with an eye-popping 40.4% strikeout rate against a 9.9% walk rate. Despite the gaudy strikeout rate, Reifert was left unprotected last November and was the fifth player off the board in December’s Rule 5 Draft.

Last year’s 9.9% walk rate was higher than average but still far and away the best mark of Reifert’s career. He walked 14% of his opponents in 2021, 12.5% in 2022 and 37% in 2023 (in a tiny sample of 7 2/3 innings). Command has long been an issue, and that was again the case during spring training. Reifert issued a dozen walks and tossed three wild pitches in just 6 1/3 innings (39 batters faced).

Reifert has yet to pitch in Triple-A, but he’ll presumably do so this season. If the Rays can get his walk numbers back to even the 10-12% range, he has the potential to be an impactful big league reliever. The 6’4″ righty features a heater in the 94-97 range and an overpowering slider that MLB.com credits as a 70-grade pitch (on the 20-80 scale). FanGraphs touts that slider as a legitimate 80-grade offering … but couples it with 30-grade command.

Braves, James McCann Agree To Minor League Deal

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March 18: McCann’s deal would pay him a $1MM base in the majors, reports ESPN’s Buster Olney.

March 17: The Braves are in agreement with veteran catcher James McCann on a minor league contract, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. Atlanta released Curt Casali from his minor league deal and reassigned Sandy León to minor league camp this afternoon. McCann is represented by the Ballengee Group.

McCann, 34, provides veteran insurance with Sean Murphy ticketed for the injured list to begin the season. Murphy and expected backup Chadwick Tromp are the only catchers on Atlanta’s 40-man roster. They’ll need to add someone else by the start of the regular season. Removing Casali and León from the mix made it seem inevitable that top prospect Drake Baldwin would get the Opening Day assignment. That still seems highly likely. McCann hasn’t had any game reps and Spring Training ends in one week. Mark Bowman of MLB.com writes that the plan is for the veteran to begin the season at Triple-A Gwinnett.

The righty-swinging McCann has spent the last two seasons backing up Adley Rutschman in Baltimore. He hit .228/.274/.382 in a combined 134 games. He has a bit of power but isn’t going to provide much from an on-base perspective. McCann is highly respected for his leadership and work with pitching staffs. He ranks in the middle of the pack in terms of arm strength and throwing out attempted basestealers. He has never graded well by public pitch framing metrics, while Statcast has graded him a little below average at blocking balls in the dirt.

Baldwin has had a big Spring Training. He’s hitting .333 with six walks and two strikeouts in 13 exhibition games. The former third-round pick combined for a .270/.384/.460 batting line between the top two minor league levels last season. He clearly has more offensive upside than McCann or Tromp bring to the table. That said, plenty of top prospects struggle in their first look at major league pitching. If Baldwin’s career gets out to a tough start, McCann could step in as the starter until Murphy returns from a broken rib. McCann has far more experience as a primary catcher than Tromp does.

Cubs Promote Matt Shaw

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The Cubs announced their roster for Tuesday night’s season opener against the Dodgers at the Tokyo Dome (relayed by Taylor McGregor of Marquee Sports Network). As expected, Chicago officially promoted top third base prospect Matt Shaw. They designated reliever Keegan Thompson for assignment to clear the necessary 40-man roster spot. That move was foreshadowed when they left the out-of-options righty off their travel roster last week. Chicago also placed righty Javier Assad on the 15-day injured list with a left oblique strain.

Shaw’s promotion, while telegraphed once the Cubs announced he’d travel with the team to Tokyo, is the most significant of these transactions. The 23-year-old infielder figures to start at third base against Dodgers righty Yoshinobu Yamamoto in what’ll be his major league debut. It was a quick rise through the minors for the Maryland product. The Cubs drafted him 13th overall in 2023. Shaw hit .357 in 38 games in the low minors during his draft year. He continued to rake upon making the move to Double-A to start the ’24 campaign.

The righty-hitting infielder played in 86 games at the Double-A level. He hit .279/.373/.468 to earn a promotion to Triple-A Iowa in August. He performed even better at the top minor league level, closing the year with a .298/.395/.534 slash with seven homers across 35 contests. The Cubs cleared a path for him to take over the hot corner when they dealt Isaac Paredes to Houston as part of the Kyle Tucker blockbuster.

Chicago made a late-offseason push for Alex Bregman as a short-term deal became a legitimate possibility. Once Bregman agreed to terms with the Red Sox on a three-year contract, the hot corner became Shaw’s job to lose. While six exhibition games weren’t likely to move the needle one way or the other, he didn’t hurt his case by collecting five hits and three walks with only one strikeout in 19 Spring Training plate appearances.

Shaw is the consensus choice as the top prospect in a strong Cubs system. He ranks among the top 50 prospects in the sport at each of Baseball America, FanGraphs (Eric Longenhagen), MLB Pipeline, ESPN (Kiley McDaniel), and The Athletic (Keith Law). The various scouting reports project Shaw as a potential 25-homer bat with the ability to hit for a high average, though McDaniel and Longenhagen each express minor concern with his propensity for chasing sliders on the outer half. Shaw is regarded as a plus runner who should be capable of sticking on the infield.

A middle infielder by trade, Shaw will play mostly third base with Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner having the middle infield secured. Hoerner did not travel to Tokyo as he finishes his rehab from October flexor tendon surgery. The Cubs have maintained hope that Hoerner will be ready for next Thursday’s domestic Opening Day. Jon Berti seems the likeliest option to start these two games in his place.

Shaw easily qualifies for the prospect criterion (on at least two of the preseason Top 100 lists at Baseball America, MLB Pipeline, and ESPN) of the CBA’s Prospect Promotion Incentive. Assuming he sticks on the Cubs’ roster for a full service year, the team would receive an extra draft choice after the first round if Shaw either wins Rookie of the Year or finishes top three in MVP balloting within his first three seasons. Shaw will be under club control through 2030 and will qualify for arbitration during the 2027-28 offseason if he holds his active roster spot. If he struggles and the Cubs option him back to the minors, that could obviously change his free agent trajectory.

While Shaw is the higher-profile rookie, he’s not the only Cub infielder in line to make his MLB debut. Rule 5 pick Gage Workman also made the Opening Day roster. Chicago grabbed the left-handed hitter out of the Detroit system in December. A fourth-round pick out of Arizona State in 2020, Workman is coming off .280/.366/.476 slash with 18 homers and 30 stolen bases in Double-A. He has never played at the top minor league level.

Workman couldn’t have done much more in camp to force the Cubs to hang onto him. He drilled three homers, stole as many bases, and hit .424 in 15 Spring Training games. Workman has an intriguing combination of power and athleticism. He’s a capable defender on the left side of the infield. The question is whether he’ll make enough contact to stick on the MLB roster. Workman fanned at a 27.5% clip last season and has a career 32.9% strikeout rate.

Teams must keep Rule 5 draftees on the MLB roster or injured list for the entire season to retain their long-term contractual rights. They’d otherwise need to be placed on waivers and, if unclaimed, be offered back to their original organization. The Cubs have Berti, Workman, Justin Turner and the out-of-options Vidal Bruján working off the bench. They probably won’t be able to roster all four players once Hoerner is healthy, but they’re each on the team for the two-game set in Tokyo.

Image courtesy of Allan Henry, Imagn Images.

Dodgers Add Roki Sasaki To 40-Man Roster

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The Dodgers have finalized their roster in advance of their Opening Day tilt with the Cubs. Los Angeles officially added Roki Sasaki to their 40-man roster. They also selected the contract of veteran reliever Luis García, who had been in camp as a non-roster invitee.

Brusdar Graterol and Michael Grove were placed on the 60-day injured list to create the necessary 40-man openings. Grove underwent season-ending shoulder surgery last week. Graterol is recovering from a labrum procedure in his own shoulder and will not be back until the second half of the season at the earliest.

Los Angeles placed an additional seven pitchers on the 15-day IL: Tony Gonsolin (back tightness), Edgardo Henriquez (left foot fracture), Kyle Hurt (rehabbing Tommy John surgery),  Clayton Kershaw (rehabbing toe surgery), Michael Kopech (shoulder impingement), Evan Phillips (rehabbing rotator cuff strain), and Emmet Sheehan (rehabbing Tommy John surgery). With Gavin Stone and River Ryan landing on the 60-day IL during Spring Training, the Dodgers have 11 pitchers beginning the season on the injured list. Each of Kershaw, Sheehan, Hurt and potentially Henriquez figure to land on the 60-day IL eventually.

By and large, these are procedural moves. The only real decision is their call to carry García in the bullpen. The hard-throwing righty inked a minor league deal that came with a $1.5MM base salary if he made the team. He didn’t have a great camp, allowing three runs with a trio of strikeouts across 5 1/3 innings. The Dodgers were nevertheless encouraged enough by his stuff to add him to Dave Roberts’ middle relief group.

García divided his 2024 season between the Angels and Red Sox. The 38-year-old pitched reasonably well for the Halos, working to a 3.71 earned run average through 43 2/3 innings. He posted roughly average strikeout (22%) and walk (7.7%) rates with a strong 51.2% ground-ball percentage. Things went sharply downhill in Boston. García missed a couple weeks late in the season with elbow inflammation. He was tagged for 15 runs across 15 1/3 innings in a Sox uniform. That pushed his season ERA to an unimpressive 4.88 mark through 59 frames.

Sasaki was not previously on the 40-man roster as a quirk of the international amateur system. The same age restriction that capped his signing bonus to a modest $6.5MM also limited him to signing a minor league contract. The Dodgers were never going to send him to Triple-A, of course, but he was technically in Spring Training as a non-roster invitee. Sasaki took the ball twice in exhibition play. He fired seven scoreless innings with seven strikeouts and three walks.

The touted 23-year-old righty will make his major league debut on Wednesday night in his home country (3:10 a.m. Pacific in the U.S.). He’ll go opposite Justin Steele in the second game of the season. It’ll be a matchup of Japanese-born starters Tuesday night at the Tokyo Dome, with Yoshinobu Yamamoto taking the ball against Shota Imanaga.

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